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The Next Louisville: When Bus Routes Determine Job Prospects

Andre Perry wakes up at 5 a.m. on workdays in his one bedroom apartment in the Shawnee neighborhood. His bus leaves 20 minutes later from a nearby stop.

The 21 carries him downtown, where he waits about half an hour for a transfer to the 71. That bus takes him across the river to the Amazon fulfillment center in Jeffersonville, Indiana, where he works four days a week loading trucks. On the 71, he can sleep.

He gets to Amazon around 6:45 a.m. — an hour before his shift starts.

“Sometimes it’s difficult, sometimes it’s not, but it gets you there on time,” he said on a recent commute home. “It might depend on the weather, the bus might have broke down or something. Usually the bus is dependable.”